Yes, you can get rid of cable

I recently went through two particular service changes that allowed me to save between $50 and $100 a month. But that's not the point, I am impressed with how clean the new solution looks.

 

1. Got rid of Directv - These guys were charging me $7 per receiver for two TVs on top of channel subscriptions. Total bill was close to $80. I now bought an antenna from Amazon for $35 which gets me all local programming. I also wanted indian programming and bought a Roku + Dishworld combo. Monthly offer is $14.95 for three months and you can change email and signup after that again. Overall, I am paying $14.95 a month for something that would have costed $100+ every month. It will pay for my new digital TV in less than 6 months.

 

2. Got rid of Vonage - It is being replaced by OOMA. Vonage costs about $35 per month with poor sound quality and OOMA comes with better quality and $4 monthly bill. Have to pay $39 for number porting. The device from Costco was bought for $143 including taxes and is wireless setup.

 

Both of these changes add upto savings of $1000 a year while providing a more promising service.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something about friends and social networks

Social networks have really caught up steam in past three years shrinking the distances and groups, bringing people closer than they ever were. But that's where I question whether the social networks are really bringing people closer or are they really just doing what they are named after - that they are making people more social. I am not an avid social network user, actually, I never login to any social network inspite of having accounts. Friends as facebook calls them are more like business contacts or relatives. It is also interesting to see that if someone else adds a friend, I come to know of that. I think that with the social networks, people are starting to have lesser friends than they ever did but they continue to believe that there are friends out there for them. Overall, it is promoting human interaction but in non-conventional ways and I am not sure if we feel the warmth of friendship those ways. They are way overused because of the novelty factor. For e.g. when someone sends a birthday wish, it becomes a virtual birthday fest quickly but in reality, people dont call and talk to the person to avoid wasting time.

But I strongly feel social networks are here to stay. They have become a vital part of our existence in past few years. We can now live in the woods and be connected to thousands of people on real time basis. Just imagine if all of your facebook friends decided to physically meet you and share dinner - you would be figuring your way out.

The significance of 10.10.11

The thought of date where month and day are the same sparked some imagination. Some facts -

1. Next month, there will be a date 11.11.11 and that date will all digits same happens only once in a century. Of course there was 1.1.11 but we all know that I am downplaying the importance of a Zero.

 2. We will only have a handful of binary dates in the entire century and yesterday was one, today is another. This year, last year, 2000 and 2011 will be the only years with approximately 9 days each. Next month 11.11.11 will be the last such day.

3. 60% of us will never have our birthdates, month and year match. My birthday is 29th and I will never see a month 29 happen.

4. The rest lucky 40% will see at most once the date when date, month and year are the same.

5. People like me will perhaps once see my birthdate match the year. Some others with lifespans beyond 100 years will have a shot at many more :-)